The founder of bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX has been arrested in the Bahamas, ahead of possible extradition to the United States.
Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas on Monday, according to the nation's government.
The US Attorney's office confirmed that Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas at the request of the US Government.
In a statement, US Attorney Damian Williams said the arrest was based on a sealed indictment that's been filed by the Southern District of New York.
"We expect to move to unseal the indictment in the morning and will have more to say at that time," he said.
Another statement attributed to the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, and widely reported by global media, said he had been detained as the US filed criminal charges against him.
Mr Bankman-Fried's business was based in the Bahamas.
FTX declared bankruptcy in early November, after revelations about its business practices led to a run on funds by customers.
It collapsed less than three years after the cryptocurrency exchange — set up by tech wunderkind Sam Bankman-Fried and his partners Zixiao "Gary" Wang and Nishad Singh — commenced operating in May 2019.
The online platform quickly became one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world.
At its height, it was once promoted by stars like Larry David and Tom Brady, and sponsored major global events.
FTX allowed people to trade in the non-state-backed market in a centralised way, like investing in shares.
Here in Australia, people who had funds in FTX are at a loss about the next steps, with ABC News being told some individuals are facing losses upwards of $500,000 each.
Meanwhile, values of the so-called coins at the centre of cryptocurrency markets are continuing to crash.
And here in Australia, a cryptocurrency broker that had exposure to FTX is also in uncertain territory.
Brisbane-based Digital Surge froze the accounts of 30,000 people who had assets wrapped up in it last month.
Some people ABC News have spoken to have their entire superannuation funds tied up in Digital Surge, after creating self-managed super funds (SMSF) with the broker.
Digital Surge went into voluntary administration last week and today its administrators have called for "urgent" offers to buy it or help recapitalise it.
